Programs: Shelter Medicine

Maddie’s® Certificates in Shelter Medicine and Master’s Degree

More dogs and cats die each year as a result of homelessness than any other cause of death, but shelter medicine can turn the tide for homeless pets. Be a part of this exciting, emerging veterinary medicine field. Promote animal welfare and help save their lives.

Expertise and Experience

The faculty and staff who will be your instructors provide consultation services, disease outbreak interventions, and emergency sheltering assistance for shelters across the US and internationally. Their ongoing research has resulted in new and innovative ways to manage existing and emerging threats to sheltered animal health and welfare.

Advance Your Veterinary Career

As one of the few veterinary schools in the world already offering formal shelter medicine training to enrolled veterinary students, the UF College of Veterinary Medicine is also uniquely qualified to teach advanced shelter medicine courses. In fact, our Graduate Certificate in Shelter Medicine may be the only program of its kind on the planet.

Three graduate-level courses form the core requirements of our online graduate certificate in shelter medicine. If you’re a non-degree seeking veterinary practitioner or a veterinary student outside of the University of Florida system, earning Maddie’s® Graduate Certificate in Shelter Medicine can advance your veterinary career with additional knowledge and skills that you can put to use immediately. Plus, the credits you earn may be applicable to advanced degrees when more courses become available.

Prepare to Make a Difference in Shelter Medicine

Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program is internationally known and respected for its strong academic reputation, pioneering research, and service to the animal welfare community. We have been training veterinary students, veterinarians, and shelter medical professionals at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine since 2008 in this emerging specialty.

Comprehensive Training in All Areas of Shelter Medicine

Starting in 2015, professional veterinarians and veterinary students will have the opportunity to earn a Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine Sciences with a Concentration in Shelter Medicine. Gain knowledge in a variety of subjects related to the emerging field of shelter medicine through this first-of-its-kind online program. The Concentration in Shelter Medicine combines four graduate certificate programs, allowing students to earn up to two additional certificates while completing the degree,

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

As part of both the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and the Academic Health Center, Veterinary Medicine is dedicated to advancing animal, human and environmental health through teaching, research, extension and patient care.

UF Veterinary Forensic Sciences

The University of Florida's online graduate certificate program in Veterinary Forensic Sciences is provided by the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).